Saturday, 29 June 2013

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore estimates the population of Mangalorean Catholics in the areas that comprise historical South Canara to be 3,60,000 (360,000) out of a total population of 39,57,071 (3,957,071), or approximately 9.5 per cent of the population.[1] Other regions of India having a significant proportion of Mangalorean Catholics, characterised by the presence of Mangalorean Catholic organisations or celebration of the unique Mangalorean Catholic Monti Fest festival, are Bangalore,Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, and Ranchi.[135][136][137][138] A few Mangalorean Catholics are found in Kodagu and Kerala, where there are tiny pockets concentrated in Thalassery, Kasargod, Kannur and Kochi. They are mainly descended from those Catholics who fled the persecution and roundup by Tipu Sultan.[139] The Mangalorean Catholic diaspora is scattered across the globe.[96] Many Mangalorean Catholics are found in Persian Gulf Arab states in theMiddle East. The Mangalorean Catholic Association of Sydney (MCAS) has estimated that around 300 Mangalorean Catholic families live in Sydney, Australia, with a lot of second generation families. Many of these are multi-racial, being married into Anglo-Saxon, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and other ethnicities.[140] Mangalorean genealogistMichael Lobo has estimated that approximately half of the Mangalorean Catholics still reside in Mangalore and the other towns in the South Canara district. As for the remaining half, about 15 per cent reside in other parts of Karnataka (mostly Bangalore), 15 per cent reside in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, 10 per cent reside in theGulf countries, 5 per cent reside in other parts of India, and the remaining 5 per cent reside in other parts of the world.[136]

The Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam (1784–1799) was a 15-year imprisonment of Mangalorean Catholics and other Christians at Seringapatam in the Indian region ofCanara by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore.[1] Estimates of the number of captives range from 30,000 to 80,000 but the generally accepted figure is 60,000, as stated by Tipu in the Sultan-ul-Tawarikh.[2] The captivity was the most disconsolate period in the community's history.[3] Its cause is disputed, although most historians consider it happened for political rather than religious reasons, owing to the alliance between the Mangalorean Catholics and the British during the Second Anglo-Mysore War (1780–1784).

The Mangalorean Catholic community in Mangalore flourished during the regime of Tipu's father, Hyder Ali. Soon after Tipu inherited the territory in January 1784, he issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam. His orders were carried out on 24 February 1784. Twenty thousand Christians died during the journey fromMangalore to Seringapatam. During captivity they suffered extreme hardships, torture, death, and persecutions with many Christians forcibly converted to Islam. Their captivity led to a near disintegration of the community[1] and ended only when Tipu was killed by the British at the Battle of Seringapatam on 4 May 1799, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Of the 60,000–80,000 Christians taken captive, only 15,000–20,000 both made it out alive and retained their original faith. The episode had a deep impact on the Literature of Mangalorean Catholics.[4] The bi-centennial anniversary of the Christians' release from captivity was celebrated across the region on 4 May 1999.

Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress and model. Hailing from a Mangalorean Catholic family, she wanted to become an actress from a young age. Prior to making her cinematic debut, she worked as a model and television presenter, and acted in plays while attending college. Pinto continued modeling for four years and enrolled herself in an acting course at the "Barry John's Acting Studio" in Mumbai where she was trained by Barry John (theatre director).

In 2009 Pinto became romantically involved with Dev Patel, her co-star in Slumdog Millionaire, with whom she is currently living. Her off-screen roles include being a part of the "Agassi Foundation", a philanthropic organisation started by Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf which looks after providing education for deprived children.

Early life and modeling careerPinto was born into a Mangalorean Catholic family in Mumbai. Her surname is of Portuguese origin as the result of her ancestors' conversion to Catholicism by missionaries. Her mother, Sylvia, is the principal of St. John's High School (Goregaon), and her father, Frederick, is a senior branch manager at the Bank of Baroda. Pinto has an elder sister, Sharon, who is the associate producer of NDTV, a news channel. Pinto aspired to become an actress since she was five years old. When she was ten, Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe 1994, which inspired the former to become an actress and turned out to be a defining point in her life. Pinto studied at the Carmel of St. Joseph School in Malad, Mumbai where she actively participated in sports and sang in the school choir. She completed a degree in arts with a major in English literature, and minors in Psychology and Economics, from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

Pinto's forthcoming release Desert Dancer is a biographical drama film that revolves around the life of a dancer. Pinto underwent rigorous dance training consisting of eight hours of rehearsals a day lasting for 14 weeks, as demanded by that role. As of 2013, she is scheduled to act with Christian Bale in Knight of Cups, and the romantic thriller NH10, which marks Pinto'sBollywood debut. The film, which began filming in March 2013, has since been delayed.Media image and personal lifeSoon after the release of Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto garnered immense popularity and was frequently included in the "Most Beautiful Women in the World" list. In 2009, she was featured in Peoplemagazine's "Most Beautiful People List", and "List of World's Best Dressed Women". The same year, Daily Telegraph reported that Pinto was the highest-paid Indian actress, although she never appeared in a Bollywood film. She was also included in Vogue's 2009 list of the "top ten most stylish women". On 13 May 2009, Pinto became a new spokesmodel for L'Oréal. A controversy arose when she appeared for a TV commercial for promoting L'Oreal, as many thought it to be racial discrimination from countries that are possessive about fair skin; the commercial showcased Pinto lighter than her true skin tone. In 2010, she was featured in the "Top 99 Most Desirable Women" poll conducted by Askmen.com in 2010. Two years later, People named her one of the "Most Beautiful at Every Age". The following year, Pinto was voted the "Hottest Indian Chick" in a controversial poll conducted by GQ.

Before making her film debut Pinto was engaged to former publicist Rohan Antao; the relationship ended in January 2009. After that she started dating her Slumdog Millionaire co-star Dev Patel. Since then the couple have been living together in Los Angeles. Later in an interview, Pinto stated that she does not want to act with Patel as she feels they will not be able to meet out the "chemistry" they had in their debut film. Pinto was criticised for having "shunned" the Indian film industry. However, she claimed that she is unable to find roles that suit her in Bollywood. She also stated that she enjoys watching Bollywood films and is keen to act in future.

Pinto joined Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in support of their philanthropic organisation "Agassi Foundation". She is the only Indian actress to have participated in their annual fund raiser titled, "The 15th Grand Slam for Children", aimed at raising funds for the education of underprivileged children. In 2013, she appeared in a video clip for Gucci's "Chime for Change" campaign to raise funds and awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health, and justice. In April 2013, Pinto collaborated with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kimfor the Call to Action - Girl Rising campaign. The documentary film Girl Rising made by Academy Award nominee Richard E. Robbins, showcases the power of education in transforming girls' lives around the globe.
of women's issues in terms of education, health, and justice.[49] In April 2013, Pinto collaborated with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kimfor the Call to Action - Girl Rising campaign. The documentary film Girl Rising made by Academy Award nominee Richard E. Robbins, showcases the power of education in transforming girls' lives around the globe.[50]

Early lifeHailing from Kinnigoli in Mangalore, the Castelino family had moved to Bombay. Darryl was a student of Holy Cross High School, Kurla (W), Mumbai. His friends said that right from the beginning, Darryl was fond of flying helicopters and it was his dream to serve the nation. His mother Leena Castelino was intially against his joining the defence forces, but over the years, Darryl's heroic deeds had made her proud of her only son. He would regularly call her up and describe what he was doing, and she would proudly narrate the same to her neighbours, without actually realizing the dangers his job posed.Chopper crash

The chopper crash

Darryl had spent the night before the crash at an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp. He had told people there that he was happy about wearing his dark green jumpsuit for a big operation to "bring in more and more live people." Darryl was piloting the Mi-17 chopper, which was carrying 20 Air Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force personnel onboard. The chopper was moving towards a temporary air base in Gauchar in Uttarakhand, when it crashed near Jungle Chatti, north of Gaurikund. The chopper was on its way back from a rescue mission in Kedarnath. Bad weather is suspected to have caused the accident.

Libert Olivera, Darryl’s brother-in-law, said "The body was unrecognisable. They had to take DNA samples to identify his body. We were told that it was the locket of Mother Mary, which he was wearing, that made it somewhat easy to identify his body. Apparently, he was the only Christian on the chopper."

The Indian Air Force later confirmed that among the dead were its five personnel on board - Darryl Castelino, Flight Lieutenant K Praveen, Flight Lieutenant Tapan Kapoor, JWO AK Singh and Sergeant Sudhakar Yadav, all from the 157 Helicopter Base in Barrackpore, West Bengal.

The body was brought to Mumbai at 7:45 AM, Saturday, on June 29, 2013 in a coffin wrapped with the national flag, and was taken to Nanavati Hospital. The Castellino family planned to bring the body home by 1 PM the next day on Sunday. Late Saturday afternoon, a team of officers from the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Barrackpore visited the Castelino residence in Vakola with some paperwork and a bag of personal effects that Castelino had taken with him. After the IAF officers left, assistant commissioner of police Zunjarrao Gharal visited the house. Gharal said, "We recieved calls from the offices of some political leaders asking for the details of the funeral. We are making preparations with the assumption that the Chief Minister and home minister might attend. A lot of personnel will be used for bandobast duty, but we have not called for reinforcements from other agencies."

Darryl's body in the truck on Marathi channel ABP Majha

The funeral service was held at St. Anthony's Church in Vakola at 3 PM on June 30, 2013, after which the burial took place at Our Lady of Egypt Church's cemetery inKalina.Personal lifeHe was married to Jyothi Castelino, and they had two children, 7 year old son Ethan and 4 year old daughter Angelina. Darryl was a very social person. His freinds say, "During Christmas he would return home, and often play the Santa for kids." His last visit was during the Christmas of 2012. Darryl was known fondly as Castro Dayawan within family circles.External links

Mangalorean Catholic Konkani is a dialect of Konkani, spoken by Mangalorean Catholics, which the Ethnologue, a Christian linguistic service organization, broadly identifies as the "Mangalore Standard Konkani (Goan)" dialect. 350–400 Portuguese lexical items are found in the dialect. The dialect is literary similar to the 18th century North Goan Barhdexi dialect.

Influence of PortuguesePortuguese influence is found in the Mangalorean Catholic dialect, with around 350–400 Portuguese lexical items being found in the dialect. More than half of them are related to religious terminology. The influence of Portuguese syntax is found only in some sets of phrases and prayers which have come down from Old Konkani times. The number of Portuguese lexical terms is also considerable although not as large as religious terms.

Allen Pereira was the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bank of Maharashtra at a critical time when the housing bubble had created a panic in the United States and its impact was felt in the global stock market, including India in late 2008 and early 2009. He was also responsible for making the bank make rapid strides with pan India presence, at the end of 18 months at the helm of affairs.

Early lifeBorn in Mangalore, his father William Pereira worked in Qatar for a premium company. His mother Brijite Pereira is residing in Kulshekar, Mangalore.CareerHaving started his career as a Specialist Officer in Syndicate Bank in 1973, he served the bank in various capacities. He joined Syndicate Bank as an officer in the Industrial Relations department and served in different branches of the bank in various capacities. He volunteered to go out of the state as branch manager to a rural branch in Goa . In 1993 Allen became the Chief Manager of the Delhi branch which saw the bank’s business go up to Rs. 300 crores from Rs. 46 crores. He was also able to procure a major World Bank project to Syndicate Bank. Known for his persuasive skills he was selected as the Personnel Advisor of Indian Bank Association (IBA) and was chosen to represent the IBA for wage negotiations with the unions. He is also the brain behind the Bank Olympiad (now defunct), to bank employees in the year 2002. Before taking over as CMD of Bank of Maharashtra, Pereira was the Executive Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce.Under his experienced guidance and stewardship, Bank of Maharashtra has embarked on major plans that include 100 percent core banking, providing technology-based products and services, SMS-enabled banking services, introduction of payment of utility bills, reservation of rail and air ticket facility, D Mat facility for those interested in investing in shares, E-trading facility, payment of LIC and General Insurance premiums.

In a career spanning 34 years in banking service, Allen has held important positions part from managerial positions in branches like Advisor for Personnel and Industrial Relations to the Indian Bank Association. He was also the Secretary/Chief Executive of the Banks’ Sports Board, the policy making body in Indian Banks’ Association for promoting sports in Banks.

Personal life

Allen likes reading, and also plays violin and harmonium, and likes listening to western instrumental and light numbers that includes Kenny Rogers, Don Denver and Elvis Pressley. His wife, a PG in Social Work specialized in Child and Family Welfare. She gave up her lucrative job in KMC to devote more time to their two children during their growing days. His son studied in Little Rock Brahmavar and was a National Talent scholar. He did his B E from NITK and is working in Atlanta, USA. Daughter also did her Engineering in Electronics and is employed in TCS Mumbai. Allen is also a philatelist and has a penchant for collecting a variety of pens.

Saturday, 22 June 2013

Reginald Pinto is the parish priest of Eliyarpadav Parish (Mangalore). He was the chief guest of the Karavali Konkan's programme on June 20, 2013, where drama tickets of Aavo Javo Goan Tumhara were released at Don Bosco Hall (Mangalore) .

Jacintha Saldanha was a nurse who worked at King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes in London, England. She was found dead by apparent suicide, three days after receiving a hoax call.Hailing from Valencia in Mangalore, Jacintha did her nursing at Father Muller College of Nursing, and got married to Benedict Barboza from Shirva, in 1993. The couple then moved to Muscat before settling down in the UK nine years ago. External links

Captain George Ferris was a military officer, who rendered military services in the Second World War. He is the grandfather of Anil Ferris.Early lifeCaptain George Ferris was born to Francis Xavier Fari and Seraphine Noronha on February 10, 1886, at Codialbail (Mangalore). The siblings consisted of seven brothers and one sister. George was baptized by Fr. Piacentini at the Milagres Church on February 18, 1886 and was named Julian George.When he was six, he was sent to Milagres School, where his two elder brothers were already studying. After completing fourth standard at school, he was sent to St. Aloysius College, where his second language was Latin. However, due to some financial difficulties, George had to discontinue his studies in Mangalore, and was sent to St. Joseph's College (Trichinopoly). DeathOn May 1, 1967, George got a paralytic stroke and was admitted to the Military Hospital in Bangalore where he had worked prior to his retirement. On May 15, 1967, he died at the age of 82 years. He was buried in the Hosur Road Cemetery in Bangalore.

Anil Ferris is the author of Ferris Family Connections, a book focusing mainly on the genealogy of Mangalorean Catholic families. He originally hails from Bangalore, and currently resides in Scarsdale in New York. He is married to Anne Ferris, and has four daughters.

Anil was born in Mangalore to George Lawrence Ferris , a lawyer in Bangalore, and Yvonne Helen Ferris (née Saldanha), a teacher at Sophia School and later at Bishop Cottons Girls School in Bangalore. He completed his primary schooling from Sophia School, Bangalore and rest of his schooling at St. Josephs Boy's High School, followed by Pre-University Certificate (PUC) (Junior College) at St. Josephs College of Arts & Sciences. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Bangalore University and after working for three years went to the United States for higher studies, where he obtained Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science and Business Administration. Later, he settled in Scarsdale, New York and worked with Pepsi Cola International for several years, before starting his own consulting company, which specializes in setting up Information Technology infrastructure for large corporations and medical institutions.

His hobby has been Mangalorean genealogy. According to Anil, his database currently holds over 35,000 people, and if compiled into a book on the subject, it will be approximately around 8000 pages.

Monday, 17 June 2013

The Mangalorean Catholic Association of Sydney (MCAS) is an organization formed by Mangalorean Catholics in Sydney, whichaims to improve the links between Catholic Mangaloreans within the greater Sydney area.

Ancy Paladka (or Ancy Salvadore D'Souza) is a Konkani writer. He has been contributing to Konkani literature since the past 25 years, having been written more than 300 poems, 800 children's songs, 30 short stories, 40 children stories, 3 plays and several investigative and research articles.

Early life and education

Hailing from Paladka, Karkala taluka (Present Mangalore Taluka) in Mangalore district, Ancy completed his schooling and Pre University Course (PUC) at St. Aloysius College in Mangalore. Later, he completed his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree in Statistics, Mathematics, and Physics at Sri Mahaveera College in Moodabidri, and Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology.

Writings

For the years 1995, 1996, and 1997, he received the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy awards for his bookIego Baye (1995). In 1999, he received the Dr. T. M. A. Pai appreciation Award for his book Chirputam (1998). He once again received the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy award for the year 2003 for his book Put'tu Xetichio Kannio. Ancy has written by several pen names, but is more popular by the pen name Ancy Paladka.Other work

Apart from writings, he was a honorary lecturer for Konkani Diploma classes in St. Aloysius College. He was the editor of Amcho Yuvak (Our Youth) monthly magazine and editorial board member of Raknno weekly. He was also a central council executive committee member of Catholic Youth Movement (CYM) for Mangalore Diocese and Catholic Sabha (Mangalore Diocese) for seven years and served in various positions at diocesan level. Presently, he is an editior of a Konkani magazine Konknni Saad.

Personal life

Ancy currently resides in Vasai near Bombay. He is married to Priya Shirley D'Souza. He is also known by his nickname Salu Soz.

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Bilingual names, having variants in both Konkani and English, like Zuãuñ (from Portuguese João, meaning John) and Mornel (Magdalene) are common among Mangalorean Catholics. Most Mangalorean Catholic names for males follow the second declension. Among women, the names follow the first declension, while among young girls, the names follow the second declension. Portuguese surnames like D'Souza, Coelho, and Pinto are common among Mangalorean Catholics, and generally follow the second declension. Other European surnames are found. Mangalorean Catholics use their native language Konkani forms of their surnames in Konkani-language contexts, along with their English forms in English-language contexts, such as Soz, Kuel, and Pint, instead of Sousa, Coelho, and Pinto. Some families use their original Konkani Brahminsurnames such as Prabhu, Kamath, Naik, Shenoy and Shet. These original surnames are actually the names of five classes of persons: lord, cultivator, merchant, warrior, and writer. Four of these are Goud Saraswat Brahmin surnames, with the exception of Shet, which is used by a few who trace their origins to the Daivadnya Brahmins of Goa. These ancestral pre-conversion surnames of the Mangalorean Catholics are calledpaik in Konkani. To capture their tradition, many have reverted to their paik surnames, or use hyphenated names consisting of their post-conversion surnames in conjunction with their ancestral ones. Mudartha is a unique Mangalorean Catholic surname to be found among some Catholics that hail from Udupi.

Historically, the Mangalorean Catholic diet was completely vegetarian. This changed during the 20th century, when with the advent of Westernisation, meat came to be consumed increasingly in the community, especially amongst the elite. Coconut and curry leaves are common ingredients to most curries. Sanna-Dukra Maas (Sanna is idli fluffed with toddy or yeast; Dukra Maas is pork) is one of the most popular dishes of the Mangalorean Catholic community. Rosachi Kadi (Ros Curry), a fish curry made with coconut milk (ros), is a traditional curry served during the Ros ceremony. Patrode, a dish of colocasia leaves stuffed with rice, dal, jaggery, coconut, and spices is popular. Kuswar are sweet delicacies prepared during Christmas and include around 22 varieties of sweets. Fish and rice form the staple diet of most Mangalorean Catholics. Par-boiled rice, known as red rice, is the traditional rice eaten and is preferred over raw rice.

The Roman Catholics from the Mangalore Diocese (erstwile South Canara district), and their descendents are generally known as Mangalorean Catholics. The diocese falls on the southwestern coast of India. At present, it comprises of the whole civil districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka state, and Kasaragod talukof Kerala state. This region was collectively referred as South Canara during the British regime, prior to theStates Reorganisation Act (1956). In 1526, after Portuguese shipping arrived in Mangalore, while the number of local converts slowly increased, an immigration of Christians from Goa to South Canara started on a large scale, in the second half of the 16th century. These Goan immigrants were reluctant to learn the local languages of South Canara. They continued to speak Konkani, the language which they brought from Goa, and the local Christians had to learn Konkani if they wanted to converse with these people.

After migration, the skilled Goan Catholic agriculturists were offered various land grants by the native Bednorerulers of South Canara. Most migrants came from the lower economic strata, who had been left out of Government and economic jobs, and their lands confiscated due to heavy taxation, under the Portuguese in Goa. As a consequence of the wealth and privilege which these Goan migrants enjoyed in Mangalore, they began feeling superior to their landless brethren in Goa. They no longer identified to their caste-based community in Goa. With the release from the captivity at Seringapatam from 1784-1799 came a sense of purpose, a sense of common identity, among the Mangalorean Catholics who had hitherto considered themselves mainly as an extension of the larger Goan Catholic community. In its rebirth, for the first time a separate Mangalorean Catholic cultural identity was formed. Even after their captivity at Seringapatam, where many died, were killed, or forcibly converted to Islam, the British employment on ships, their prosperity under the British and Italian Jesuit regimes, their migration and employment to Bombay, Persian Gulf Arab States, and the Anglosphere enabled the community to restore their identity.

Walter Nandalike (born 1972 or 1973) is the founder of Daijiworld Media (Mangalore), a web portal on the Mangalorean community. He is currently the Editor-in-chief and and Managing director of Daijiworld. He was awarded the 2009 "Star of the Year" award for his achievements in the field of web journalism, by the International Institute for Public Policy (IIPP), an organization to recognize individuals who have made commendable contribution to the city of Mangalore.Walter originally hails from the village of Nandalike in Udupi district. He had migrated to the Gulf for employment purposes, with no knowledge of computers. Having learnt about computers, he sent his first E-mail to his friends on 1 April 2000 saying that he was hosting a site on the Net, which was meant to be a joke for All Fools Day. His friends took him seriously and started inquiring about the site. Surprised by the levels of interest, Walter started thinking seriously about the project. He learnt computers thoroughly and eight months later on 14 January 2001, launched www.daijidubai.com, primarily with the objective of hosting information and news only pertaining to Konkani language and society. The portal is now known as www.daijiworld.comHe was also nominated for the Pingara Kannada journal’s "Pingara Rajyotsava Award" for the year 2007. Walter currently resides in Dubai and is married to Wilma Nandalike, and they have two children, Cema Nandalike and Samantha Nandalike.

Rony Byndoor (or Ronald Nazareth) is the current convener of Daiji Dubai, a popular forum of Konkani writers in Dubai. He began his journey as a short story writer in Konkani literature. He is also well known in compering, and considers the late legendary singer Wilfy Rebimbus as his role model.